


The Climb

by thedorkyastra



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: F/M, Gen, could also just be best buds being close, its shippy if you want to look it at that way
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-05
Updated: 2017-08-05
Packaged: 2018-12-11 07:09:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11709399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thedorkyastra/pseuds/thedorkyastra
Summary: As the first golden rays of the sun spilled into the dips of the Commonwealth, Preston woke to check the perimeters of the settlement like always. He never asked Sole where she went or why: he believed it was out of line to question this harmless habit of the General. Yet, the better he knew her, he couldn’t help but wonder as he watched her daily climb.





	The Climb

Sanctuary during the day bloomed with people’s hopes and breathed life into the harsh and unforgiving land of the Commonwealth. It had grown from it’s humble beginnings into a settlement that buzzed all day and night. It was no Diamond City or Goodneighbor, but it managed to outshine them with its honest and hardworking citizens. As the name suggested, it was now one of the safest places in the Commonwealth; the people were generous, kind, and lively. In the middle of Sanctuary, the shining lights that hung from the great tree helped invigorate the night life. People drank themselves silly and regaled tales of their fearless leader, the great General of the Minutemen and her loyal companions.

When everyone had fallen under the spell of night and long before they would rise with the morning sun, is was said the Sole Survivor could be seen climbing the hill towards Vault 111. No one knew where she went those mornings, and no settler dared to follow her.

* * *

As the first golden rays of the sun spilled into the dips of the Commonwealth, Preston woke to check the perimeters of the settlement like always. He never asked Sole where she went or why: he believed it was out of line to question this harmless habit of the General. Yet, the better he knew her, he couldn’t help but wonder as he watched her daily climb.

Even though he and everyone else knew her story, after the Institute had been taking down she had been taking more time to herself. Leaving to help settlements without a companion, spending some nights by a small fire or sitting by her terminal listening to several holotapes. She never stopped spending time with the settlers and everyone else, always making time for Shaun, but she was becoming a bit of a recluse. It surprised him when one day when she asked if he would like to accompany her.

At the top, seeing Sanctuary and Wasteland from that high, bathed in the morning glow, he was struck almost breathless. He hadn’t noticed the green life that had started growing after hundreds of year of fighting the fallout. It was breathtaking. 

The wind slowly swayed the trees into waking, and birds… he could hear birds chirping and life beginning to move. They stood there in silence, words rendered useless. Preston understood why the General came up every morning: to see the hope she had nurtured.

 

“Beautiful isn’t it?” she stood next him, sun shining in her eyes.

 

“Yes, General… It is.” he let himself relax for this moment and just… breathe.

 

When he saw that below people were beginning to start the day’s work he straightened his back and gripped his rifle, readying to descend back down to Sanctuary. He was caught by surprise when he heard her voice, unrecognizably fragile - a word he thought he would never use to describe the fearless General of the Minutemen who took down a Mirelurk Queen almost entirely on her own.

“You helped make all this possible you know…” she turned to him, eyes tearing up and smile oddly solemn. Her eyes seemed to dazzle in the light, he thought. “I couldn’t have done it without you Preston.”

That’s when he felt everything in him still. No one else could make him freeze in place, causing all thoughts to come to a screeching stop, and then be suddenly hit with warmth and tears. Like a wave of relief. He tilted his hat down and chuckled, “Thank you… Sole.”

She smiled, “Come, I… I want you to meet someone.”

He let her lead him down an elevator and through the twists and turns of halls, she could lead him anywhere and he would have followed. They soon came to a chamber of pods and he saw her pace slow. As they walked to the end he looked inside the pods and saw people who had become frost bitten, long dead he realized. It all felt surreal and nightmarish, he couldn’t begin to imagine what it most of felt like to wake up to this.

Sole stopped at the end, and she took a long shaky breath. She closed her eyes tight, pressed her lips into a thin line, and pressed herself flush against the cryopod. She let out a choked sob and inhaled sharply. He could see it was taking every last bit of her resolve to hold back the tears.

Time began to slow, and the whirring of the machines and the electrics shocks filled every sense. The air was stale, and the electricity caused the hairs on his arm to raise. When she finally pulled herself from the pod, it felt like hours had passed. “This is…” she stopped herself and her face screwed up tight. Her breath hitched and her entire body tensed. 

“This was my husband.” The words came out of her mouth unnaturally, as if they had never been spoken before. Preston ducked his head in respect.

“I’m sorry General, take all the time you need.” It had clicked earlier, but hearing it from her… He remembered Quincy and felt his body tense. He knew she was no stranger to death and that she had been dealing with his this whole time.

Sole stepped out of the way and gestured toward the pod. Preston looked into the cryopod to see him and studied the corpse inside. Frost bitten, and a panic stricken expression etched into his face for the rest of eternity. Preston tried to think of him when he was alive, he looked strong. Scars on his face - maybe he was soldier as well? A few grey hairs and wrinkles at his eyes indicated that he was older than Sole or had seen so for his age.

Preston sighed and said with a soft voice, “Hello Sir. Thank you for making the General - Sole - happy while you could. I promise to serve and protect her with my life.”

When they returned to Sanctuary, thought it felt like a great weight had been lifted off the General, they didn’t speak a word about it - even when questioned by Piper about their disappearance. The others poked fun and said some rather… inappropriate things that he would never do to the General, but Sole just shared a warm and thankful smile with him - a smile that could charm him into anything. 

 

He would protect that smile to the day he died.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you barrisscoffees for editing this, you are simply the best! I hope you all enjoyed my first entry in the Fallout fandom, I hope this won't be the last time you see me! And hey- if you got any requests I can see about trying fill them! <3 Love y'all!


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